World No. 1 Serena Williams has not reached the Australian Open semifinal since she won the tournament in 2010. She’s back this year, but has a tough challenge in a young and hungry teen in Madison Keys. The teenager reached her first Grand Slam semifinal by pulling off a couple of big upsets against Petra Kvitova (third round) and Serena’s big sister, Venus Williams (quarterfinals).
Will we see a passing of the torch? Find out with our complete preview of this all-American Aussie Open semifinal.
It’s going to be an epic semifinal round in Women’s Singles tennis. Check out our complete preview of the Maria Sharapova vs. Ekaterina Makarova semifinal match here.
World No. 1 Serena Williams will be well-rested heading into her first Aussie Open semifinal since 2010 after she throttled Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
[sc:Other240banner ]What makes Williams so dangerous is her uninhibited power on serve. She has a tournament-high 57 aces, 27 more than her next competitor.
But relying on her power has also hurt Williams to some degree. In her most win over Cibulkova, Williams only managed to get 52 percent of her first serves in. (She did win 83 percent of those first serves.) Williams has also struggled with her second serve, winning just 52 percent of second serve points (ranked third among the remaining four players in the tournament).
But even with Williams’ struggles with her service, she’s still a very competent return player. She ranks first in the tournament with 26 break points won and has won 88 first serve receiving points. Still, Williams’ return game will have quite a challenge ahead against Madison Keys and her 148 first serve points won.
Betting on Madison Keys
Welcome to the big stage Madison Keys.
Keys made it into her first Grand Slam semifinal by besting Venus Williams 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in her previous match. She broke the older Williams’ serve seven times in the match and fired home 34 winners to make up for her 45 unforced errors. Keys may not be so lucky if she makes the same number of miscues against this Williams sister.
Keys may also not be in her top form for the biggest match of her career as she suffered a leg injury in her quarterfinal win. But she can still give the World No. 1 a tough fight by attacking Williams’ second serve. Keys has won the most second serve return points among the four semifinalists.
Keys can also keep Williams on her toes when she’s holding serve. Keys has won 73 percent of first serve points and has 30 aces (second only to Williams) throughout the tournament.
Writer’s Prediction
Williams outlasts Keys in three sets. Create a betting account now and get ready as the Australian Open approaches its explosive conclusion.
